INSTITUTE, W.VA. -- West Virginia State Volleyball, the Mountain East Conference South Division Champions, battled to victory Tuesday, taking down the South Division's second place squad Davis & Elkins 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19) in Walker Convocation Center.
State improves to 26-3 on the season and 14-1 in the league. The Yellow Jackets' 26 wins is their best in program history.
Senior Jenna Dufresne registered a double-double, her ninth of the season, as she posted 20 kills and 10 digs. It was her sixth match of the year with 20 kills or more, and she hit at an impressive .341 clip. Libero Alex Darby recorded 24 digs, and veteran Grace Martin recorded a match-best six blocks.
"Our team seems to be peaking at the right time, " head coach Kris Kern said. "Tonight was an all-time school record for wins in the season, breaking that record we set two years ago. We have a rivalry game on Senior Night Friday afternoon. The course is set for us, we just have to navigate through it to get through the conference tournament and get an NCAA berth."
It was a back-and-forth affair in the opening stanza, as the two squads were tied as late as 21-21 before State rallied for the final four points of the set, courtesy of a Senators error, a Peri Martin ace, and kills from Dufresne and Grace Martin, to hand the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 match lead at 25-21.
WVSU led by as much as 10 in the second set at 22-12, before D&E used a 7-1 run to interrupt set point and cut the lead to four at 24-20. A kill from sophomore Natalie Beer thwarted the comeback and handed State the 2-0 advantage at 25-20.
The Senators exploded with momentum in Set 3, building their own lead of 10 at 17-7. The Yellow Jackets responded with a 9-1 run, including eight consecutive points in a sequence that featured back-to-back kills from senior J'Lana Stone and three total in the run, and she and Grace Martin paired up for three blocks as well.
As State threatened and trimmed the deficit to 18-16, the squad again used a rally, this time registering four straight points after a pair of kills from senior Gabrielle Bullock, a Grace Martin service ace, and a block by Beer and sophomore Kiersten Eggleton, to take control of the frame at 22-21. D&E stole the lead right back with a pair of kills, and then forced a fourth set at picking up the final two points for a 25-23 mark.
WVSU responded early in the fourth frame, building a 6-1 lead and then used yet another 4-0 run to go up 13-7. The Senators attempted to claw their way back, narrowing the margin to just three points at 16-13, but State continued to register timely points to keep the lead and finished with the victory on a slam from Bullock for a 25-19 finale.
Bullock finished with nine kills and now sits at 985 in her career, just 15 shy of the 1,000 point club.
Beer finished the match with five blocks, while Stone added eight kills and five blocks. Peri Martin dished out a team-high 25 assists.
UP NEXT
State concludes their regular season Friday with a matinee match, welcoming cross county rivals Charleston for a 3 p.m. first serve. Live stats and streaming will be available.
